Now when you are moving around your text, press Alt to get the cursor accelerated.

One might wonder why these mappings would be useful, since there are so many other ways to move quickly. These mappings have some advantages, however. For example, if you use 'w' or 'b' to move, the cursor jumps unevenly, so you must:

Press it somewhat slowly as your eye tracks where the cursor moves with each press; or

Count (or estimate) the number of words to jump, press the key sequence, then correct any mistake you made.

Another option is to use 'f<char>' (followed by ';'), but this is a similar case:

Find a character close to where you want to go (e.g. h), press 'fh', and keep pressing ';' until you get close by.

All three options require the eye to actively track the cursor and/or the mind to count words. However, if you just hold down 'l' (or in this tip's case, 'Alt_l'), you needn't think about it. The cursor moves at a steady pace, so the eye (and mind) can estimate the destination based on timing. This is not possible using 'w', since it does NOT move steadily.